Cold
by Hayama 4
Summary: A oneshot. The new moon has risen, a blizzard has blown in and Sango is missing. What will Miroku find when he goes to look for her?


This is one of those snowstorm scenarios which I wrote a few years ago. I chose to make Miroku the main character because I love him! He's hilarious!

Cold...

"Miroku!" Inuyasha's voice shouted.

I snapped to attention, but I could hear the shakiness in his voice. He was hurt, seriously hurt. "The wind has picked up and it's starting to snow. We have to find shelter, for Kagome at least," I explained.

He glanced up at the moonless sky with disgust and then down at Kagome's limp body.

"She only hit her head, Inuyasha. She'll be okay if you can get her warm."

I stood amongst the remains of the demons with Inuyasha to my right and Kirara's tracks leading off to my left. The images of the battle flooded back to me. The new moon had risen and Inuyasha's demon powers had faded. Everyone was ready to fight because we knew we were vulnerable. Two large demons and several smaller ones had attacked; they wanted the shards. We all fought as best we could but one of the larger demons already had a shard and decided to run away. Sango had mounted Kirara and followed it while Inuyasha, Kagome, and I had finished the others. She had not returned.

Why had she followed the one that ran away?

Why hadn't I followed her right away?

I felt Inuyasha watching me, waiting for my decision.

"I'll carry her, the moon has taken its toll on you," I offered, picking Kagome up. I could not leave my friends hurt and out in the open. Inuyasha was, for once, too weak to argue. We walked to the right, towards a hut we had seen before.

By the time we reached the solitary hut, the snow was a foot deep and my face was numb. Once inside, I opened Kagome's pack to discover one blanket. I held it as a thousand thoughts raced through my mind. If I found Sango, I would need to keep her warm, but if Inuyasha and Kagome didn't warm up, they would die. I had to possibly sacrifice one life to save two.

"Inuyasha," I began, handing him the blanket, "keep the both of you warm with this. Try to stay awake. Sunrise is not far off."

He frowned at me. "Where are you going?"

"To find Sango."

I had forgotten how long I'd been walking in the cold with only the energy trails of Kirara and the demon to guide me. I knew I was getting closer, and I prayed that Sango was nearby.

Suddenly I heard a faint mew and I stooped in the snow. I reached down and scooped up a quivering yellow bundle that mewed in gratitude.

"Kirara, where's Sango?" The creature nodded its head in the direction of a large mound of snow. I walked around the mound to the other side, where the snow had been blown away into drifts. It was the demon, dead with Sango's boomerang lying beside it. But at what price had Sango vanquished the demon?

Kirara suddenly stumbled from my grasp and staggered over to a snowdrift. I began to dig furiously and finally lifted Sango from the icy powder. She was weak but alive.

We needed to escape the wind. The air itself was no longer that cold, but the stinging wind made the temperature deadly. I looked across the landscape and saw only snow.

Snow... hmm... that's it!

I hollowed out a portion of the drift that had formed on one side of the demon and stuck my staff into the ground in front of it. Despite the fact that I knew falling asleep could be deadly, I was too exhausted to stay awake once I sat down...

I opened my eyes and sat up. I was sitting next to a fire. Sango was beside me, sipping tea. "What?"

Sango glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. "Well, you woke up on your own. Inuyasha was going to hit you."

"But why would he care if I was asleep?"

"Because," a ferocious voice answered, "Kagome refused to even look for that demon's jewel shard until she knew for sure that everyone was okay. For her that meant making sure you would wake up." I turned to see Inuyasha, claws, ears and all.

I laughed. "I see you are back to your old self, unfortunately."

"Feh," he muttered and walked off towards the demon's remains a few yards off.

"He's also mad that Kagome and I wouldn't let him eat your ramen noodles," Sango laughed. She handed me a warm bowl. "Thank you, for finding me."

"Of course," I replied.

She smiled. "You were not your usual, opportunistic self I assume."

I straightened my face. "Had I not been so cold and tired, I certainly would have found some excuse to take your clothes..."

But I got a face full of ramen noodle soup before I could finish my sentence.


End file.
